Blinker beace foe beidles



(No Model.)

' A. FOSS.

BLINKER BRACE POR BRIDLES.

No. 576,443. Patented Feb. 2., 1897.

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Edif @5m lhvrrn STATES PATENTl OFFICE.

AUGUST FOSS, OF BUFFALO CENTER, IOIVA.

BLlNKER-BRACE FOR BRIDLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,443, dated February 2, 1897. `Application filed October l2, 1896. Serial No. 608,614. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, AUGUST FOSS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo Center, in the county of Winnebago and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Blinker- Brace for Bridles, of which the following is a specification.

Great difficulty has been experienced in securing a blinker brace or fork for bridles which will be durable, maintain the blinkers in a normal position, and be sufficiently pliable to yield without cracking and breaking, and enable the use of ordinary stock in its construction.

The purpose of this invention is to devise a simple construction to meet the objections herein noted and which will materially diminish the cost of manufacture.

To such as are skilled in the art other objects and advantages will suggest themselves as the nature of the invention is disclosed. Hence for a full understanding of the merits and advantages of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings and the following description.

The improvement is susceptible of various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof, and to a full disclosure of the invention an adaptation thereof is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of aharnessbridle having the invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a front view of the blinker brace or fork. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail on the line X X of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the central portion of the blinker-brace and the parts intimately associated therewith.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in the several views of the drawings by the same reference-characters.

The bridle, which may be of any desired pattern or make, comprises the head-stall l, throat-latch 2, cheek-straps 3, blinkers 4, and blinker brace or fork 5, the latter being attached midway of its ends to the head-stall by a billet 6. The brace or fork 5 is formed of a single piece of leather, and may be flat or made rounding, as preferred, and is secured at its ends in any convenient way to the upper outer corners of the blinkers 4, and is bent intermediate of its ends to form a loop 7. A band 8 encircles the loop 7 a short distance from its closed end and serves to maintain the form of the loop and prevent its side members from spreading. The billet 6 is folded about the band 8, and a rivet or fastening 9 connects the side pieces of the billet and comes inside the fold of the loop 7 and between the said fold and the band 8, thereby connecting the parts in a simple and substantial manner. A keeper l0 embraces the parts of the billet and is adapted to slide thereon and to hold them close together above the brace or fork 5.

By having the rivet or fastening 9 coming inside of the loop 7 the parts are held in fixed relation and cannot slip from off the loop 7,

and are prevented from movement toward.

the blinkers by the spreading of the brace or fork members and by the action of the keeper 10 in drawing the parts of the billet together above the loop 7.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is l. In a harness-bridle, a blinker-brace deflected intermediate of its ends to form a loop, a band encircling the loop, a billet folded about the band and closed end of the loop, and a fastening connecting the parts of the billet and coming between the closed end of the loop and the said band, substantially as set forth.

2. In a harness-bridle, a blinker-brace having a loop intermediate of its ends, a band encircling the loop, a billet folded about the band and closed end of the loop, a fastening connecting the side pieces of the billet at a point intermediate of the closed end of the loop and the band, and a keeper adapted to slide upon the side portions of the billet and hold them together above the aforesaid loop, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

AUGUST FOSS. 

